Girl, 9, says mom put brother in scalding water

She fidgeted on the witness stand, alternately sucking her thumb, fingering the microphone and swiveling in her chair.

Despite difficulties concentrating, Demerasia Stevenson, 9, told Broward jurors Tuesday that her mother put her brother, 3, into a tub of scalding water and pushed him down by the shoulders when he tried to get out because "he did number two ... in his Pamper."

Valerie Kennedy, 32, is charged with first-degree felony murder and aggravated child abuse for the Christmas Day scalding.

Jaquez Mason's third-degree burns, covering nearly 70 percent of his body, went untreated for a week. He died New Year's Day 2006.

With a court-appointed psychologist at her side, Demerasia recalled her brother's burned legs, tummy, feet and back.

"Miss Kennedy burned him up," she said, referring to her mother by name.

Her testimony did not come out as fluid narrative, but as painful extractions separated by long spells of unresponsiveness.

She pulled at her braids, toyed with her barrettes and sat on her knees. She squinted, rolled her eyes upward and sometimes smiled.

Later, during a court recess, Tate said she could not specify Demerasia's diagnosis, but said she suffers from seizures and, although she is 9, attends the first grade.

Before Demerasia's testimony, Circuit Judge Jeffrey Levenson prepared the jurors: "Our next witness is young and a little bit unusual." He told the jurors it would be their duty to evaluate the testimony and give it the weight they saw fit.

Bringing a child forward to testify can have contrasting effects on jurors, said Trudy Block-Garfield, a forensic psychologist not involved with this case.

"Some jurors might be appalled to see a child go through this," she said. "Others might really pity the child and perhaps, without intending to, give it more weight than if it were an adult testifying."

And disabilities, developmental or otherwise, can have a strong impact on jurors, too, she said.

"If you have a child who clearly has attention deficits, you don't know where the child's mind is by the time the question is finished," she said.

Evidence of that played out during defense attorney Young Tindall's cross examination.

"Did Jaquez slip in the bathtub?" he asked.

Demerasia's response was three-fold: "Mmmhmm." Then "Yeah." Then "No."

Tonya Alanez can be reached at tealanez@sun-sentinel.com or 954-356-4542.